Contract Services Team

Jennifer Pancorbo, Ph.D., Director, Industry Programs and Research, leads the Bioprocess Services (BPS) group at BTEC, where she provides support for external parties looking to solve problems in process development, technology development, scale-up data generation, and material production for research and pre-clinical studies.

Dr. Pancorbo is responsible for academic courses in microbial fermentation and industry special topics; she also supports professional development courses in both upstream and downstream processing. In addition, she functioned as project coordinator for BTEC's international influenza vaccine manufacturing program.

She has over 13 years of experience in the biomanufacturing field, particularly in developing downstream purification processes and optimizing upstream production strategies for vector vaccines. Dr. Pancorbo earned a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering and holds a doctorate in chemical and biochemical engineering, where she focused on the design and development of targeted drug delivery.

Megan Hackman, Scientist II in the Bioprocess Services Group, leads and provides support for external client projects. Projects involve process development, characterization, material production, as well as data generation and analysis. Ms. Hackman offers expertise in primarily purification/downstream operations.

Ms. Hackman has a bachelor's degree (B.S.) in Biology from NCSU as well as a Minor in Biomanufacturing from BTEC at NCSU. She joined the BPS Group at BTEC in April of 2022. Before joining BTEC, she worked as a Process Scientist/Engineer at FujiFilm Diosynth in Morrisville, NC and as a Scientist I at ImmunoReagents in Raleigh, NC. Ms. Hackman has experience with small, intermediate, and large scale purification/downstream operations, process development, validation, deviation investigations, data generation and data analysis.

Melody Lao, a Scientist II in the Bioprocess Services group at BTEC, supports the management and execution of a wide variety of projects for external clients. These projects include process development, technology development, and material production for research or pre-clinical studies.

Ms. Lao has 10 years of experience in the biomanufacturing field with expertise in cell culture process development. She joined BTEC in 2011 as a Bioprocess Training Associate for the Operations group, where she supported upstream lab courses. Prior to joining BTEC, she worked at Merck in Durham, N.C., and Cook Pharmica, a contract manufacturing organization, in the upstream process development group. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry with a minor in chemistry from Indiana University, Bloomington.

Shriarjun (Arjun) Shastry, Scientist II, joined BTEC’s Bioprocess Services group in September 2019, after coming to BTEC in 2018 as a Bioprocess Training Associate in the Operations group, where he supported downstream laboratories. Prior to that, he worked on the Process Sciences Investigations Team at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Arjun has expertise in downstream processes and is actively involved in BTEC’s rAAV gene therapy process development project, specifically in purification/downstream processes. He received his bachelor’s degree in biotechnology engineering from BVB College of Engineering and Technology, India, and a Master of Science degree in biopharmaceutical engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark.

Greg Worsley is a Scientist I with the BTEC Bioprocess Services group. He holds bachelor’s degrees in chemical engineering (B.S.) and chemistry (B.A.) from North Carolina State University. Mr. Worsley has over 10 years of experience in upstream processing, which he gained during his work at Fujifilm Diosynth and Biogen. His experience includes fermentation, cell culture, stainless steel, and single-use technologies. Mr. Worsley’s work has also included activities in process development, and small-, intermediate-, and large-scale manufacturing.

Haiwei Zhang works as a Senior Scientist in the Bioprocess Services group at BTEC, where he leads and participates in projects serving the needs of clients in the biotechnology industry through process development, material production, and data generation. He served as the manager of BTEC’s small-scale laboratories before joining the BPS group.

Mr. Zhang has a diverse background in biotechnology through years of working in both academia and industry. His skill set ranges from molecular cloning, imaging, and cell culture to fermentation and protein purification. He earned a Bachelor in Science in biochemistry from Nanjing University, China, and a Master of Science in natural sciences from the State University of New York at Buffalo.